Billy the Kid Archives

The Trails and Tales of the Old West Go on Forever

by | Jun 11, 2021

What event marked the end of the Old West? Daniel Proctor (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) That’s hard to say precisely because the Old West covered...

The Kid’s First Kill

by Bob Boze Bell | Jun 11, 2021

By Bob Boze Bell (based on the research of Fred Nolan & Jerry Weddle) Henry Antrim vs. Windy Cahill “I...called him a pimp.” August 17,...

Bowery Boy to Billy the Kid

by Various Authors | Jun 11, 2021

Scholars uncover answers and create more questions on the outlaw’s life and family from New York to New Mexico. This past year has been a watershed...

Billy the Kid and the Apaches

by James B. Mills | Jun 11, 2021

The audacious outlaw fought and raided his rival renegades without retribution. All images courtesy True West Archives unless otherwise noted ...

The West’s First Preservationist Will Surprise You

by Jana Bommersbach | Jun 10, 2021

In Lincoln County, New Mexico, the name John Tunstall is as famous as his hired gun, Billy the Kid. His ambition, his capitalistic competition, his...

Here’s Looking at You, Kid

by Bob Boze Bell | Jun 10, 2021

The Class of 2021 has turned in their research and—boy, howdy—there are some eyebrow-raisers here. When I was first diving deep into all the Billy...

Feed the Dog An unusual explanation for being heavily armed.

by Mark Boardman | May 13, 2021

Robert Widenman was a New Mexico deputy US marshal—and an associate of Billy the Kid and the Regulators during the Lincoln County War. He was...

Walking into War A pastor-physician moved to Lincoln County in 1878.

by Mark Boardman | May 12, 2021

Taylor Ealy thought he had a simple assignment: go to Lincoln County, New Mexico to serve as a doctor, Protestant pastor and to run a school for...

Billy Crosses Over

by | May 10, 2021

After his mother’s death in November 1874, young Henry McCarty fell in with a rough character named Sombrero Jack and drifted into a life of crime....